How to use Berlin’s public transport, where to eat and what to visit for an unforgettable trip

Berlin is my favourite city in the world, so it’s no surprise it’s the one I have visited the most. I am fortunate to have family who live there. They have guided me through the best and worst Currywurst, the Mauer, and some brilliant shopping. So whether it’s your first or fifteenth time in Berlin, I hope this guide helps you uncover something new. The number of times I have visited Berlin also means this is a bumper edition of the blog, so grab a cuppa and dig in!!

Contents

The history of Berlin

The history of Berlin is not just about the events from 1933 onwards, however this does dominate the city. One of the reasons for this is the scale of destruction that occured during WW2. This means many older buildings and landmarks have been destroyed.

Berlin actually dates back to the thirteenth century and was a major trade hub in Europe. Berlin did not escape Napoleon’s ambitions and was captured in 1806 by the French Army who withdrew in 1809. The palace of Charlottenburg is one of the best tributes to Baroque Berlin, if this is what takes your fancy.

In the late nineteenth century Berlin became the capital of the unified Germany. Not long after (1884 – 1894) the Reichstag and many other significant buildings were built (such as the Berliner Dom).

Berlin is very intentional about how it honours its Nazi past. You cannot escape the impact that this period had on the city. This is so everyone has to face what happened in the country in a bid for it to never happen again. In a world where fewer people who lived through the Nazi regime are alive to tell their stories, this is of increasing importance. To this end, there are major monuments but there are also more subtle tributes to the period. For example in Bebelplatz there is what looks like a simple perspex square. It is actually an empty cellar where banned books were burned. The cobbled streets of Berlin are also punctuated with the brass plaques shown below. These honour the Jewish families that were removed from the houses or apartments nearby.

Berlin was divided by the famous Mauer in 1961 which fell in 1989. The city became a symbol of German reunification in the 1990s. Having visited Berlin since the late 1990s one thing is stark – the extent to which the east of the city has changed in this time. The West feels as if it has stayed much the same, but the East has changed beyond recognition due to the investment in regeneration.

History of Berlin: recommended reading

If you want to learn more about Berlin, here are a few recommendations which I’ve enjoyed. Each of these books tell the history of Berlin in a different ways. They are also more accessible than something like a biography of Hitler.

• East West Street by Phillipe Sands*
• Stasiland: stories from behind the wall by Anna Funder*
• Frauen: German Women recall the Third Reich by Alison Ownings*

Getting around Berlin: Riding the U-Bahn

The U-Bahn is Berlin’s metro train system, with a station on almost every corner. The network is mainly underground and connects with the S-Bahn (the more suburban service) and the DB (the national service). The U-Bahn is highly efficient and reflects underground systems in many large cities. It has multi-coloured lines, complicated changing points, and runs until well into the evening.

Paying for the U-Bahn: the U-Bahn doesn’t have ticket barriers like most city networks. There are pay stations on the platforms where you can buy tickets – for single, day or multi-use. You just need to punch the ticket to activate it before you get on a train. You can also pay for the U-Bahn on the app (this was a REVELATION for me last time I went to Berlin).

Getting to Berlin: the Airport

Having spent years going to Tegel or Schoenfeld, nothing quite prepared me for Brandenburg Airport. It is vast, shiny, and terribly run. Quite literally it is the slowest, least efficient airport I’ve ever been to. I arrived to fly home three hours before my flight and got to the gate 15 minutes before it was due to open. Thankfully the plane was as late as everything else was slow in the airport so I didn’t have an issue getting on board.

There is a feature where you can book your security slot, which my uncle encouraged me to do. Obviously, the first time I used Brandenburg I ignored this thinking it wasn’t needed and I regretted it. So I used it on the most recent visit and it was much better. Still painfully slow, but its a shorter queue. They’re quite strict on the timing, so you have 5 mins after your slot you can turn up then they close them and you’re in the main queue. It’s also worth noting a British passport is not a ticket for a quick immigration check. Old British / EU passports (mine is still valid, just!) do not work on the e-gates in Berlin anymore.

The advantage of the airport is it’s very well-connected and accessible via the S-Bahn. I’ve flown a range of airlines into Berlin, EasyJet* and BA tend to be the least hassle / most reliable in my experience.

Cash is still King in Berlin

One thing I really noticed on my February 2025 trip to Berlin was how many places only take cash. This isn’t just the quirky coffee shops for locals but some of the tourist sites only let you pay by cash. This defeated me this time and I ended up not visiting a couple of bits.

A decent cup of coffee: Einstein Kaffee

Berlin, like many modern cities, has a plethora of Coffee shops. Not all of which are any good. In fact, some are really quite bad, and if you don’t know my feelings about bad coffee yet, let’s just say it’s a peeve. Especially when you pay a good €4 a cup.

I’m always in serch of a perfect cup of coffee. The best place I have found is a phenomenal independent coffee shop on Eisenachestraße called Elemeta. The best chain coffee shop in Berlin is Einstein Kaffe. It has 20 branches in Berlin and a spectacular blend. You will of course find what feels like hundreds of branches of Starbucks, and the blend there is as you would expect. Disgusting.

Opening hours on Sunday: a word from the wise

One thing that took me aback last time I went to Berlin was how few shops, cafes, or museums were open on a Sunday. Especially Sunday Morning. Now I expect this in smaller cities in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland however as the capital city. London’s always-open culture has clearly changed my expectations. I expected the same restlessness I get in London. I came away with a huge respect for the fact that so many in the city shunned the opportunity to make more money and opted for a day (or at least half a day) of rest.

The Berlin Bear

The Berlin Bear has become a landmark in its own right. First scattered across Berlin in 2001, they were so popular that instead of being temporary installations many similar things are in major cities, they are changed, updated and evolved. Tourists continue to love them, and they bring to life the city symbol for each generation of visitors.

These pieces of art come in the form of tributes to events in Berlin’s past, celebrations of businesses (including corporate-sponsored bears), and the simply random.

Der Ampelmann in Berlin

Der Ampelmann you could call an early meme. It was the traffic light signal in East Berlin that is now so ubiquitous that it is recreated in as many forms as you can imagine. I’ve not found a Berlin bear with the symbol on, but I am sure one has existed at some point.

Der Ampelmann started as a simple symbol on the cross-walk but has morphed into so much more. I have red and green Ampelmann Christmas decorations, have eaten green Ampelmann gummi bears and have seen people proudly sporting t-shirts.

Street Art

One of the wonderful things about Berlin is that the city is adorned by street art – one of my favourite things to see in a new city. Whilst the graffiti on the wall is the most famous in the city, there are plenty of other murals to turn heads of those interested.

Christmas Markets

The last time I visited happened to be at Christmas 2023 which meant there I was able to experience a wonderful array of markets and consume some excellent Gluwein. The markets were wonderful, however, the prevalence of “German-Style Christmas Markets” in the UK meant that they did not have the charm I remember when visiting Koln years ago. Yes, I’m checking my privilege with that statement.

Itinerary for a weekend in Berlin

As Berlin is a large city, I’ve divided this guide into things to see on the east side and those to see on the west. It’s not insurmountable to go between the sides of the city, but it makes more sense in a short period to cluster things on either side of the city.

If you are looking for a guide purely of the locals tips, this guest post by Matti from ToursofBerlin.com will give you the truly hidden side of Berlin.

Day one

Walk the East Side Gallery…

The East Side Gallery is the largest remaining part of the Berlin Wall and I would say one of THE must-visit places in the City. The art on the wall stands as a reminder of what the city went through, and the sheer size and scale of the wall is not really felt at any other place in the city.

There is no train station called “Berlin Wall”, so you need to go to Warschauer Str and walk from there. You won’t get lost, as people are trying to sell you “genuine pieces” of the wall from the moment you get off the train there, to the moment you hit the actual wall.

The museum at the East Side Gallery is pretty cool. What is NOT worth it, however (sorry) is the “Immersive Wall Experience” which you find near Checkpoint Charlie. Save your €10 (or whatever it costs these days) and thank me later!

Alexanderplatz

Alexanderplatz is one of the main squares in East Berlin, and contains the old TV tower too. It will give you plenty of shops, cafes, and transport links, plus some pretty cool architecture and re-creations of former soviet icons.

Visit the Spy Museum

The Spy Museum is a newer edition to Berlin’s cultural scene and is one of the furthest out places which you would visit, so it’s worth going there first and then working your way back towards the centre of Berlin.

The Museum brings a new twist to the history of espionage and looks at those who were double or even triple agents. Plus they had dress-up. Really, what more could you want?

Tickets for the Spy Museum start at €6 and pricing is “dynamic” to control the visitor numbers.

Shopping at the Mall of Berlin

Opposite the Spy Museum there is the Mall of Berlin a newly (ish) re-developed shopping centre that has a few really good spots and a great food court (Currywurst, YES PLEASE).

Checkpoint Charlie

Checkpoint Charlie is one of the iconic places in Berlin to visit as a tourist. it is also a symbol of the divided city. Thankfully it doesn’t take long to see, but in the daytime if you want a photo you need to queue and pay.

Checkpoints Alpha and Bravo also existed, but neither are so iconic as Charlie. The original Checkpoint Charlie was a wooden hut which has been moved across the city to the Allied Museum, and the replica stands as a reminder of the restrictions Berliners faced every day.

Personally I LOVE the Mauer Museum (Haus am Checkpoint Charlie), but many don’t. It resembles a regional museum where the curator went missing. It just contains EVERYTHING you might ever want to know about Checkpoint Charlie, with little thought to the narrative or flow of the experience. For me, this was PERFECT. You can book skip the line tickets in advance too, tickets are around €18.*

If you’re hungry at this point, Casa Italia on Friedrichstraße I’ve always found pretty dependable. It gets mixed reviews online, but never had an issue…

Have dinner at Osteria Ribltone

Osteria Ribltone in Viktoria-Luisa Plaza is a gem from my uncle which is more than worth heading slightly towards the suburb of Schoneburg. You need to book, it’s bonkers and apparently Merkel took Obama for dinner there. If it’s good enough for them… Note, Osteria Ribltone only takes cash.

Day two

Visit the KaDeWe

The KaDeWe is Berlin’s answer to Bloomingdales or Selfridges – a high-end department store with fashion, exhibitions, and quality food but without the vulgarity you would find at Harrods.

Spread over many floors, the KaDeWe has every luxury concession you can imagine, and more! I’ve also been there when they’ve had exhibitions on, like one of Hermes scarves. Like all of these iconic department stores, the KaDeWe has a magnificent cafe where you can buy traditional German treats- it isn’t what it was, but it is still an excellent experience and the Apfelstrudel mit Vanille Sahne cannot be beaten. I also found an end-of-line section in the KaDeWe on my last visit. I still couldn’t afford most of it, but it’s good to know it is there.

A few doors down from the KaDeWe is a more mid-market and smaller department store Peek & Cloppenburg, which I am quite partial to.

Top Tip: if the KaDeWe is busy, and you cannot go without cake, then MOLA is a great alternative close by.

Brandenburg Tor

No visit to Berlin is complete without a train ride to Unten-den-Linten and a visit not only to the Brandenburg Tor, but also to see the hotel next to it where Michael Jackson dangled baby Blanket from the balcony. From here, it’s easy to walk to the Tiergarten, one of the biggest parks in Berlin, and see the Reichstag from the outside (I’ve never managed to go in, it needs to be pre-booked).

Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe

Round the corner from the Brandenburg Tor is the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. The memorial dates to the mid 2000s and is made of large stones of varying sizes which you can walk between (not on, it’s not respectful). The vastness of the memorial is deliberate and really takes you aback. Equally the dark grey stones add a sense of bleakness that humbles you and makes you reflect on what happened. Under the stones is an exhibition room that is not always open to the public, but is worth a visit.

You can buy tickets before and in person. I’m not going to affiliate link to these because that just a bit gross.

Currywurst at Friedrichstraße station

Currywurst is a staple of Berliners. It comes in two forms – a wurst with curry powder sprinkled on top, then with a bit of mayo or mustard or a wurst smothered in curry ketchup (which you can buy in the Penny Markt if you want to take some home). Best served with some greasy chips!

Now Currywurst is easy to come by in Berlin but it varies in quality. One of the best places to get it is at Friedrichstraße station.

David Bowie’s apartment

This is a quick stop, but the apartment that David Bowie once lived in is near Kleistpark U-bahn station. There is usually some form of memorial near the entrance to the apartment.

Urban Nation

If you want a quick museum that celebrates all things Urban Berlin then the free Urban Nation on Bulowstraße is for you. It’s a quirky, neon celebration of graphic art and subversion combined with randomly spray-painted rooms.

German dinner at Lenzig

Lenzig is a German restaurant on Wartburg Straße that celebrates the best of stodgy German food. With red and white checked tablecloths, and a selection of beer and schnapps it’s a wonderful way to end a weekend in the city. They do a particularly good Flammkuchen (the German version of Pizza, but it doesn’t have tomato).

If you would like to slice something a little less mainstream into your agenda, see this post on the hidden gems in Berlin. If you have the time, head over to the Berliner Dom which I think is well worth a visit.

*Denotes an affiliate link. This means if you make a purchase, I get a little commission at no cost to you.

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